Town to star in new outdoor spectacular

Your home movies, photos and stories are wanted to help make Batley the star of a new outdoor spectacular being created for this year’s festival.

Do you have photographs or personal movie footage that capture the town and its people in all their glorious idiosyncrasy?

Batley Festival in collaboration with Creative Scene are working with Brighton-based theatre company Periplum to tell the story of the town and its people over the last 100 years up to the present day using film and theatre performance and they need your moving images, photos and stories to help shape the event.

Members of the public are invited to contribute their own film footage and photographs of Batley life – its architecture, events, people and places, both present and past – to feature in this celebratory performance that will play to an audience of 1,000 people. It will be presented free to the public as part of this year’s Batley Festival on Saturday, September 10.

Last year, audiences at the festival were treated to Spellbound, a magical outdoor performance by Walk the Plank. This year in collaboration with Creative Scene, the festival is pleased to be commissioning a brand new piece of work, made especially for the town.

Kimberley Thirkill, chair of Batley Festival, said: “I’m so excited that this year’s evening event will be a brand new piece of work, created in Batley, with people from Batley, celebrating all the weird and wonderful things Batley has on offer.

“It will be a tremendous addition to the festival and an event you won’t want to miss.”

To share your home videos, photographs or stories with Periplum come to their open drop-in sessions on Friday, June 17 from 1pm to 4pm and Saturday, June 18 from 10am- 2pm at Batley Library.